


Once Upon time...

by orphan_account



Category: The Librarians (TV 2014), 人渣反派自救系统 - 墨香铜臭 | The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Characters Watching The Little Mermaid (1989), Crack Crossover, Crossover, Crossover Pairings, F/F, Fairy Tale Elements, Fairy Tale Retellings, Libraries, Multi, True Love, True Love's Kiss
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:13:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25548004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Shen Yuan suddenly feels sick, and is forced to go to the hospital. It would not be the first time, everyone knows that the boy has poor health.But Qingge is not convinced, there is something strange underneath, and he wants to find out what it is. Fortunately, he knows the right person to solve the mystery. And unfortunately, if Qingge wants her help, he has to endure a half-demon bastard.-------------------------------------"Why there should be a shark here?" asked Qingge.Before Binghe could answer, a head emerged from the lake surface. It was a blonde girl with big eyes, Binghe thought that she looked like Shen Yuan.The girl asked," Do you know where the prince is?""There he is!" said Binghe, pointing to Qingge.The girl shook her head, "He isn't my prince. I lost him."Librarian
Relationships: Luò Bīnghé/Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū, Original Shěn Qīngqiū & Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū, Original Shěn Qīngqiū/Yuè Qīngyuán
Comments: 6
Kudos: 27
Collections: Fairy Tail Fantasies





	Once Upon time...

Santa Barbara's library wasn't particularly big or impressive. It was a edifice in need of urgent repair, with scraped off walls and pieces of plaster missing. It was also isolated, almost noble in its solitude. 

Lots of people didn't even know the building was a library, passing by it without a second glance. They just considered it a relic of the past.

But for Shen Yuan, the library was an oasis of peace. He used to study there in middle school, and it was one of the few places where he felt safe, where he was sure to not meet boys his age. 

Even now that he was an adult, Shen Yuan continued to come to the library, whether to study or read a good book.

Today he had come there in search of some novels to read for the summer: War and Peace, Lolita, Crime And Punishment, and Anna Karenina. 

"Oh, Shen Yuan, how are you? - the librarian, Mr Julius, greeted him - I haven't seen you in a while."  
"Busy with school," he replied, standing on tiptoe to take "Anna Karenina" from its shelf.  
"You're a smart boy," Mr Julius said.   
"I've never seen anyone loving books like you. Nowadays young people no longer read. They are always with those phones in hand to make God only know what!"  
"I have a friend who hates cell phones."

"There are always exceptions," Mr Julius said, "The saddest thing is that even children are no longer interested in reading. Fewer and fewer kids are listening to my readings. Don't their parents know that fairy tales teach children to dream?"  
"There are now audiobooks for this," Shen Yuan thought, but out of delicacy, he didn't say it.  
Instead, he said, "Children still love fairy tales."  
The man sighed, "I hope they come today, I haven't seen anyone yet. I wanted to read the Little Mermaid today. The original story, of course."

Finally, Shen Yuan took Anna Karenina and turned to look at Mr Julius. " Isn't the original version too sad for children?"   
The librarian seemed offended. "Nonsense! The original Little Mermaid teaches the value of true love and sacrifice, and that are values that everyone must learn! The Hell with Disney! He didn't understand the tale true meaning!"

It seemed to Shen Yuan Walt Disney was already dead when the Little Mermaid came out in the theatres, but he wasn't sure. He wasn't an expert on fairy tales, and he had never seen the movies they had inspired.  
"It's only a tale."  
"No, Yuan. It isn't only a tale. It's a journey and a way for us to get in touch with magic!"  
The student wrinkled his nose. He had never liked stories with magic. Often, the authors forgot all logic and used as justification, "it's all about the magic."  
Idiots, even magic has its own logic! You can't do what you want just to fill the obvious plot holes!  
Mr Julius's gaze brightened. "Finally! Someone has arrived!" 

Shen Yuan turned and saw a small group of children around seven years old wandering around the shelves with a confused expression as if they didn't know why they were there.   
A little further back were their parents, evidently tired and hopeful of getting rid of their children for a few hours.  
" It was good to see you, Yuan. Sorry, but I have to go. I hope..." Mr Julius bid his farewell.   
In his haste, he bumped into the student and dropped the storybook.   
Shen Yuan bent down to take it, jolting when the paper cut his finger. 

"Are you okay?" Mr Julius asked.  
"I'm fine," he replied, "It's just a scratch."  
Mr Julius hesitated like he wanted to say something else, but it lasted only a few seconds.   
He smiled, instead. " I wish you a good day, Yuan. And if you're looking for other books on Russian literature, you will have to take the stepladder. Usually, nobody search for Dostoevskij or Tolstoj, so I put their books there."   
"Where can I find the stepladder?"  
"It's behind this bookshelf."

Thus, Shen Yuan went to get the stepladder, while Mr Julius welcomed the kids.  
As he went up to get "War and Peace", he thought to hear Mr Julius reading the incipit of the story," Far out at sea, the water is as blue as the petals of the loveliest cornflower and as clear as the purest glass, but it is very deep..."   
Meanwhile, Shen Yuan couldn't find the book. There were others he had never heard of, like "A Hero of our time", "Dead Souls", and "Fathers and Sons", but not "War and Peace".   
As he kept searching, Mr Julius continued with his reading.  
"'When you complete your fifteenth year,’ grandmother said, ‘you will be allowed to rise out of the sea, sit in the moonlight on the rocks and watch the big ships that sail past – you will see forests and cities!’ During the following year one of the sisters turned fifteen, but the others, well, each one was a year younger than the other, so the youngest had no less than five years to wait before she would venture to come up from the sea-bed and see how things are in our world." 

Eventually, the student found "War and Peace". It was stuck between two other larger books, whose name he could not even read.   
He tried to pull it, but the book was stuck. He tried again, but his hand began to tremble. His vision clouded over as if the world had suddenly started to swirl around him. Shen Yuan clung to the stepladder, but his strength ran out, and he fell.  


  
  
_______________________  


  
  
When he woke up, Shen Yuan was in a bed at the hospital. His right hand was encased in a plaster cast. He felt tired as if he had run for miles. Slowly, he tried to get up, but someone stopped him.

" What are you going to do? You have a concussion, you need to rest."  
Oh, the concussion explained the headache.  
Shen Yuan said, "Brother Yue?"  
The man smiled, " You made us worry a lot."  
"Why are you here?"  
"I was in your emergency contacts," he explained, "The hospital called me, and your brother took us to the hospital."  
"I didn't want to disturb you."  
"Nobody wants to go to the hospital," Yue Qingyuan said, "It was an incident."  
Shen Yuan scratched his head, "What happened? The last thing I remember is that I was in the library."  
Qingyuan answered, "You fell asleep suddenly and fell off the stepladder. You were lucky that you only broke your wrist."  
He didn't remember feeling tired. Sure, he had studied a lot, but he had slept all night. Shen Yuan couldn't explain the sudden tiredness or the lack of strength.   
"How are you now?" Yue Qingyuan asked.  
"I'm fine - he said - I'm just a little tired."  
"You should rest."

  
Shen Yuan bit his lips, "I want to go home."  
"You can't go home," Qingyuan said, "Doctors want to keep you under observation. Just to be sure."  
"I'm fine," he repeated, conscious of seeming like a petulant child. But he hated hospitals and remembered every time the doctors had sent him home without checking the causes of his illness.  
He didn't have health insurance, so doctors weren't interested in him. Probably, it was because of Yue Qingyuan if Shen Yuan was still there. He must have paid part of his care and...  
"A-Yuan!"

  
Yue Qingyuan's voice startled him. He had been so immersed in his thoughts that he didn't notice that the man was talking.  
"What?"   
"Did you hear what I said?"  
He shook his head. Yue Qingyuan sighed, "I said that we can postpone the excursion to the lake. We will go when you feel better."   
"You don't have to do it," he said, "You and A-Jiu could go together."

  
_So maybe you will finally solve your sexual tension._  
Yue Qingyuan seemed about to argue, but Shen Jiu abruply cut him off. He marched into the room.  
"Are you an idiot? - his brother yelled- If you were sick, why did you go to the library? However..."  
Shen Yuan sighed. It will take a while for his brother to calm down.

_______________________  


  
The nurse had been a tough nut to crack.   
"Only the family can deal with these things," she said. But Shen Yuan's family couldn't pay for his medical care.   
Liu Qingge had made it clear, showing the money and signing all the documents necessary to take care of Shen Yuan's expenses. After seeing the money, the nurse had become more affable. What a coincidence! As soon as he finished signing all the documents, paramedics entered, carrying a sleeping girl on a stretcher.   
Another nurse sighed, "Oh, another one."   
Liu Qingge raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

  
"She is like your friend," the woman explained, "She suddenly fell asleep in the middle of the road and was about to be hit."  
"It is not even an isolated case," his nurse intervened, "This week, she will be the sixth or seventh. I have lost count."  
Liu Qingge asked, "All children who suddenly fall asleep? Why does it happen?"  
"Nobody knows. But there is no need to worry, kids recover in a few hours and immediately return to annoy everyone."   
The other nurse didn't seem to agree.

As her colleague turned away, she said," Everything doesn't go back to normal immediately. For a few weeks, the children are tired, as if something is drying them up. They are pale, eat little and sleep all the time. And then they suddenly return to normal. Doctors can't explain it. They ran tests, analyses, but nothing. These children are perfectly fine."

  
"It's impossible," said Liu Qingge in surprise, -"How can all those symptoms be explained?"  
"Nobody knows. I think..."  
"Rosa!," her colleague said, "Shouldn't you be taking care of Dr Micah's patient? Don't bother and go to her."  
Rosa grimaced and left, leaving Liu Qingge with more questions. 

  
"Don't listen to her, she's paranoic."  
Liu Qingge replied, " The children don't recover immediately. Don't you want to know what they got?"   
"As soon as they get out of here, it's no longer my problem - the nurse said - Now pay. I have no time to lose."  
It wasn't normal. Liu Qingge knew there was more to it. And he knew who to call to solve the mystery.

  
  
_______________________  
  


A few hours later, Liu Qingge was at the municipal swimming pool. He hated that place, it smelled of feet and chlorine. Yet, his sister had told him to wait there, and Liu Qingge had no choice but to wait.  
Damn portals.   
" You are jittery, brother. What happened?"  
It was a relief to hear Liu Mingyan's voice, but his joy died when he saw who was accompanying her.

  
'Hell no! Why is he here?'  
Luo Binghe smiled innocently, "I am the Guardian of the Librarian, wherever she go, I also come."

  
Bullshit. That bastard had come only for Shen Yuan. He hadn't taken his eyes off him since he met Shen Yuan at that disaster that had been the Christmas party.

Liu Qingge may well have approved a possible relationship between the two, but Luo Binghe was not human. Hell will freeze before Qingge allows a half-demon to mess up Shen Yuan's life.

  
"So, do you think that Shen Yuan's and the children's sickness have to do with magic?" asked Mingyan, going straight to the point and ignoring the tension between the two guys.  
Qingge said, "Yeah, because it's strange that healthy people have these symptoms suddenly."   
""Noticed something strange? - she asked - Sudden bad weather, earthquakes..."  
"None of this - Qingge replied - Only children who are suddenly sick, as if something was stealing their life energy."

  
Luo Binghe said, "There are many artifacts that nurture energy to fuel their power, like the spear of Longino. If you could be more precise...What is that?"

  
He pointed to a shadow swimming in the pool, with a vaguely human appearance. "What do you think it is?"  
"It's certainly not a shark," Binghe commented, squinting his eyes.

  
"Why there should be a shark here?" asked Qingge.  
Before Binghe could answer, a head emerged from the lake surface. It was a blonde girl with big eyes, Binghe thought that she looked like Shen Yuan. 

  
The girl asked," Do you know where the prince is?"   
"There he is!" said Binghe, pointing to Qingge.   
The girl shook her head, "He isn't my prince. I lost him."   
"Um... do you want us to help you find him?" asked the Libraian.  
The girl ignored her. She looked around as if she thought his prince was hiding around there.   
When the girl realized that the person she was looking for was not there, she dived into the water again.   
As she was diving, Qingge saw that she had a fishtail. For a while, nobody said anything.  
Then, Qingge shouted, "What the fuck just happen?"

**Author's Note:**

> \- Ispired by The Libraians 1x06  
> \- English isn't my first language, so I'm sorry for any errors.


End file.
